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Next generation of space cowboys get ready to fly

By Jacob Aron

Looks good on paper

(Image: FireFly Space Systems)

Say hello to the next generation of space cowboys. This week, private aerospace firm FireFly Space Systems in Austin, Texas, revealed the design of the FireFly Alpha, a shiny new vehicle that aims to launch lightweight satellites at low cost.

FireFly was founded in January this year and has former SpaceX and Virgin Galactic employees on staff. The company’s mission is to reduce costs for lighter loads going to low Earth orbit, such as constellations of small satellites used for communications networks or monitoring Earth.

Most probes like this currently piggyback into space on larger missions that can afford to fly on big rockets. But that means small satellite operators have a limited choice of launch dates and orbits.

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To improve efficiency, the FireFly Alpha will use an unusual engine design called an aerospike, which has a wedge-shaped nozzle to produce thrust, rather than the traditional bell shape. Aerospike engines have been tested on a variety of vehicles but never used for an orbital launch. The same is true of Alpha’s methane and liquid-oxygen fuel system, which will reduce engine weight because it does not require an extra inert gas to pressurise the fuel.

FireFly says these innovations will let them lower launch prices to around &dollar;9 million – similar to the cost of SpaceX’s original Falcon 1 rocket but able to lift twice the weight.

This article will appear in print under the headline “FireFly unveiled”